Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining areas seemed to return to normal as there was no fresh incident of violence on Tuesday.

Curfew in three police station areas of Muzaffarnagar was relaxed for three hours even as 975 persons were arrested and arms licenses of 1,820 were canceled.
Another 7,000 had to give an undertaking that they would not indulge in any unlawful activity.

At last count, the west UP district accounted for most (32) deaths in the September 8 violence with one each reported from Saharanpur, Baghpat and Meerut. Briefing media along with IG (crime) Ashish Gupta, home secretary Kamal Saxena clarified that rioting had not led to any death in Shamli. The killing of a man there Monday was out of animosity, he said.

In neighbouring Saharanpur, motorbike-borne assailants shot at a fruit vendor on Tuesday. He was said to be stable.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, appealed for calm and said lawlessness would not be tolerated under any condition. And sure enough, station house officers of Meerapur and Bharkhala in Muzaffarnagar were removed Tuesday for their inability to control rioting.

Four BJP MLAs -- Hukuma Singh, Surendra Rana, Sangeet Singh Some and Bhartendra Singh – are among the 40 accused who delivered inflammatory speeches at the September 7 Jat mahapanchayat. They are yet to be arrested, Gupta said.

Nine others were, however, booked under the National Security Act in five cases. Gupta said more would be charged under the act. Security forces would remain till normalcy was restored, said Gupta. Efforts are also being made to facilitate the safe return of people who fled their homes during the violence.

Partly accepting failure, Gupta said there were inputs from IB and local intelligence units and “we had made preparations accordingly, but unfortunately violence broke out”. Saxena added that the government was regularly briefing the governor and Union home ministry about the situation.

Meanwhile, a criminal case was registered against a social networking site under the IT Act regarding derogatory comments on Islam.

The Delhi Police economic offences wing (EOW) is looking into the complaint by one Tahseen Poonawala.

‘No failure of Akhilesh govt’

Agra: The violence in western Uttar Pradesh was not a riot but ‘caste clash’, said the ruling Samajwadi Party’s national president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference on the eve of the two-day national executive in Agra, Yadav, however, sought to defend his chief minister son Akhilesh Yadav.

“The situation was controlled in two days,” Mulayam said. He dismissed Congress’ criticism of the UP government’s handling of the situation in Muzaffarnagar, as a “natural reaction of any party in opposition” and governor BL Joshi’s damning report to the Centre as routine.Yadav stressed he was not a candidate for PM’s post. He also ruled out pre-poll formation of Third Front.